Spanish authorities have picked up a Singaporean ship captain who was found adrift at sea off the coast of southern Spain. He was wearing only a white shirt and clinging desperately to a life buoy in high winds and strong waves.

When police rescued him, emergency services found him suffering from "extreme hypothermia, bloated lips, face and eyes, and swollen eyelids due to exposure to the sun and salty water."

The man was the captain of the Morning Ninni, a cargo ship from Singapore sailing close to the Spanish territory of Ceuta in northern Morocco. According to Spanish police, his ship was intact and had alerted authorities that a man "may have fallen overboard" in the morning of the incident.